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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tufts looking for rebound win at Williams

2015-10-17-Football-vs-Trinity-7701
Tufts sophomore DB J.P. Garcia dives to catch the ball in the football game against Trinity on Oct. 17.

In their upcoming game against the 2-2 Williams Ephs, the 3-1 Jumbos hope to rebound from their Oct. 17 loss to the Trinity Bantams, the Jumbos' first of the season. 

After putting up 27 points against the conference's leading defense, Tufts is hungry to leverage offensive pressure against Williams this Saturday. The Jumbos' offense aims to continue relying on the run game, with NESCAC's leading rusher, junior Chance Brady, leading the charge. 

“[Brady] was really effective on Saturday [against Trinity], and the offensive line certainly did a great job,” coach Jay Civetti said. “That’ll continue to be part of the focus -- we expect to continue to run the football. Having the NESCAC's leading rusher is certainly a point of emphasis for us. We knew coming into the season we had to be able to run the football.” 

Defensively, Tufts is going to rely on its secondary to keep up with Williams’ quick receiving corps. Forcing five turnovers against Trinity, Tufts' defense continues to make big plays under pressure. First-year cornerback Tim Preston, who was recognized as the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week for his two interceptions last Saturday, will be called upon to keep up with a pair of speedy wideouts -- Williams senior wide receivers Darrias Sime and Colin Brown, each of whom has over 160 receiving yards on the season

“I think a big message for us is that we wanted to be better in week four than we were in week three, and we want to be better in week five than we were in week four,” defensive backs coach Kevin Farr said. “There’s always things for them to work on as a defensive back. It’s important that the ball’s in front of us and that we do a good job of making plays when the ball’s in the air.”

Besides Sime and Brown, senior tight end Alex Way is the third member of the Williams team that has over 160 receiving yards for the season, so Tufts will be challenged this week against the strength of the Williams receiving corps.

“They have excellent athleticism,” Civetti said. “They’ve got some really talented receivers; they’ve got a really big tight end, Alex Way. They have some pretty unique team speed. They’ve got some real burners over there that can do a lot of dangerous things. We have to limit the big plays this weekend.”

The Jumbos defense will look to continue making big plays this week as they face Williams senior quarterback Austin Lommen, who has thrown six interceptions this season, the second most in the NESCAC. The Jumbos defensive line features sophomores Zach Thomas and Micah Adickes with four and a half sacks apiece on the season, tied for most in the NESCAC. 

Yet despite these impressive statistics, Tufts still faced some serious defensive challenges against Trinity, which it plans to improve upon against Williams.

“In terms of our preparation, there’re a few changes we need to make,” Civetti said. “We’ve got to do a better job ... On that [Trinity sophomore quarterback] Sonny Puzzo long touchdown run, not taking anything away from the kid, [but] we certainly made it easy on him. One guy’s misaligned, and you find yourself one gap short, and they capitalize. That’s what good teams do.”

With the season-long goal still being the NESCAC championship, the Jumbos are hoping to improve to 4-1 on the back of their strong rushing offense. Brady has managed 421 yards this year with six touchdowns. The passing attack, lead by junior quarterback Alex Snyder, will also be on display this week against a Williams secondary that has managed just two interceptions this season

Tufts will look to each and every team member to step up this week as they look for a rebound victory Saturday. Although Williams is just 2-2 this season, the team has historically been a strong contender in the NESCAC.  

“We’ve got a tough task heading out to Williams,” Civetti said. “Williamstown hasn’t been Tufts-friendly in a really, really long time. We talk a lot about winning the individual battles. Every play is about five to six seconds. It doesn’t matter how many plays it takes, what we have to focus on is winning as many of them as we need until the game is over. The expectation is to win the game, the goal is to win each individual battle to get there.”

The Jumbos take on the Ephs in Williamstown, Mass. this Saturday at 2 p.m.